2023-10-07 13:27:50
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed today that the country “is at war” after the surprise attack by land, sea and air by Palestinian militiamen, and assured that the Hamas movement, which governs the Gaza Strip, will pay “a price.” without precedents”.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not in an operation, it is not rounds of combat, it is a war,” Netanyahu said in a video broadcast on his social networks, referring to the offensive that, according to preliminary figures given by Israeli media , left at least 100 dead in that country, and four Palestinians killed by retaliatory bombings.
At least 2,200 rockets would have been fired from Gaza until 10:30 local time (4:30 in Argentina), Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht told the press, quoted by the AFP news agency.
“There was a combined attack with the help of paragliders,” Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht told reporters, warning that “something big” was happening.
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas spoke of 5,500 projectiles.
“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of (Israel’s) occupation, its time of rampaging without accountability is over,” the group declared.
“We announced Operation Al-Aqsa Deluge and fired, in the first 20-minute attack, more than 5,000 rockets,” he said.
“I ordered, first of all, that the communities that terrorists had infiltrated be evacuated. This is currently being carried out. At the same time, I have ordered a wide mobilization of reserves and that we return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” Netanyahu explained in a video posted on his social networks.
The Israeli Army anticipated that thousands of reservists will be called up to operate in Gaza, as well as in the north of the country, near the borders with Lebanon and Syria, and in the occupied West Bank.
Hamas also released a video showing three men it said were captured by its fighters.
The Israeli armed forces reported the activation of sirens in the south of the country, while the Police asked the population to remain near bomb shelters.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip left their homes to move away from border areas with Israel.
Israel maintains a harsh blockade against the Gaza Strip, an impoverished and overpopulated Palestinian territory, since Hamas assumed full power in 2007.
Since then there have been several devastating wars between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces. The two sides experienced tensions in September, when Israel closed the border to Palestinian workers for two weeks.
The border closure was criticized as collective punishment that harmed thousands of Palestinian workers, who can earn more money working in Israel than in Gaza, where unemployment is very high.
The border reopening raised hopes for an improvement in the situation in Gaza, where 2.3 million people live.
In May, an exchange of Israeli airstrikes and rockets from Gaza left 34 Palestinians and one Israeli dead.
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